


Innocence

by FluffyGremlin



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-09
Updated: 2011-11-09
Packaged: 2017-10-25 21:25:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/274949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyGremlin/pseuds/FluffyGremlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Theon could do was wait until one of them finally broke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Innocence

It started innocently, as all things do when you’re young and stupid. A few jests just shy of being cruel. A few blows just soft enough to bruise. Scathing words and piercing looks and suddenly the air would become suffocating until one of them would blink.

The first time Theon Greyjoy had realized the electricity that gyrated around Robb Stark he had been lying on top of the other boy in the dueling yard after a miss-timed swing had sent them both crashing to the ground. All around them Stark men had laughed, a cacophonic roaring that echoed the pounding of Theon’s heart against his chest. He’d joined in. Of course he had. Everyone would have known at that moment that something wasn’t quite right if Theon, ever smiling, ever joking, ever cruel, hadn’t joined in.

Only Jon Snow hadn’t laughed.

The second time had been with less of an audience. Theon was teaching the younger man how to properly notch his quarrel, pressed up against his back, breathing on his neck. He wondered how much of Robb’s lack of coordination had to do with the fact that he in equal parts admired and despised Theon and how much laid squarely on the fact that, through layers of cloth and leather, he could still feel the others heat against his skin.

It was Catelyn who called them away for supper.

The third time had started with well meaning yet snide remark made while each had been half in their cups, sitting just a bit too close together in the otherwise empty great hall. Robb had looked at him coldly, all narrowed eyes and clenched jaw, and it was all Theon could do to hold back on the urges that he felt in that moment. Robb had grumbled something low in his throat as he’d swept his hair away from his face before turning away. Theon had stayed where he was, watching the other man as he stared down into the dredges of his wine. Neither moved for ages until Maester Luwin had happened by and urged both off to their rooms.

Separate rooms. Opposite sides of the castle. Can’t have the hostage too close.

Theon soon lost count of the number of times his thoughts strayed towards the obscene when Robb Stark was present. The way his impossibly blue eyes went almost black in the twilight. The way his fingers, long and calloused, seemed to caress his sword hilt just before he swung. He tried to ignore the way Robb would bend his ear towards Snow as they watched other men practice just as he ignored the fact that Robb didn’t seem to come to him as often as he once had. To talk. To learn. To laugh at Theon’s stupid stories.

The one thing he couldn’t ignore, the one thing he didn’t really want to, was the way Robb would look at him when no one else would notice. His mouth would quirk just so and all Theon could do was watch and try to remember to breathe.

All Theon could do was wait until one of them finally broke.


End file.
